Saturday, March 12, 2016

Attention, Ashkelon excavation veterans!

POSTED, AS REQUESTED:

Dear James,

Over the last few months, we have heard from many of you about your experiences at Ashkelon. Thank you for sharing these memories. We did notice that while we able to reach many using email, there are an equal number of Ashkelon contributors whose current emails were unavailable to us. We would be grateful if you could help us spread the word- both the information from our last letter, and the news below- through social media. As we look forward to the final season, we want to involve as many of you as possible in the special week that we are planning.

From July 4th-July 10th, we will be having a celebration of the history of the excavation, and we invite you to join us and even to excavate with us one last time. For any former Ashkelon participants who are interested in excavating with us in the final season, we have set aside the first week of July for a week of excavation and daily tours. If you are interested, you can reserve your space at the excavation hotel by filling out the following form: https://form.jotform.com/60594407673967.

If you are in Israel during that week, but cannot join us to dig, I hope you will mark two special days on your calendars. On Thursday evening, July 7th, join us for a final ceremony and dinner with the National Parks Authority at Ashkelon. We will have a dinner in the park, a few speeches, and you will have a chance to visit the dig one final time. If you can come to this event, please RSVP to Ashkelon2016@gmail.com by July 1st. On Sunday evening, July 10th, we will have a celebratory gala in Jerusalem at the Rockefeller Museum. This evening will celebrate the opening of an exhibition on Ashkelon which will bring together highlights from the Leon Levy Expedition and the permanent collection of the Rockefeller Museum. We should have formal invitation for the opening later in the spring.

We look forward to seeing you in person this summer as we celebrate thirty years of the Leon Levy Expedition to Ashkelon.

Sincerely,

Larry Stager and Daniel Master

On Tue, Sep 29, 2015 at 2:51 PM, Daniel Master wrote:
Dear James,

Greetings from the Leon Levy Expedition to Ashkelon. We have been searching through our records to contact everyone who has had a hand in contributing to the Ashkelon project since 1985. We have not found everyone, but, by our count, more than fourteen hundred people have participated. Nothing the excavation has done would have been possible without your support, and we thank you for digging with us.

For more than thirty years, we have had the privilege of working at one of the great sites in the Eastern Mediterranean and uncovering history from the Chalcolithic period through the Crusades. As many of you may know, 2016 will mark the end of active fieldwork for the Leon Levy Expedition to Ashkelon. In light of this milestone, we hope to make 2016 a year of reminiscence and celebration for all that the excavation has accomplished in the past thirty years, and we welcome your participation.

Your histories at Ashkelon are an important part of the history of the excavation, and we invite you share your memories. We would love to hear about the finds that you discovered, the people who influenced you, and the way Ashkelon shaped the years that followed. We plan to compile these memories so that your story can join the archive of the excavation. Text and photographs can be sent to ashkelon2016@gmail.com where Tracy [Alsberg] Hoffman and Heather Campbell will curate your submissions. Tracy will be blogging this year at the excavation website (digashkelon.com) with more images from past seasons.

In July of 2016, the dig will be hosting a week of festivities marking the final season. As always, you are invited to return to Ashkelon, either as part of the 2016 excavation team or as a visitor during our celebratory week. We will send more information about these events in the coming months, but, whether or not you are able to join us in Israel, we hope that Ashkelon will be on your mind in the upcoming year. We look forward to celebrating your contributions to thirty years of the Leon Levy Expedition to Ashkelon.

Sincerely,

Larry Stager and Daniel Master

I was an assistant square supervisor at the Ashkelon excavation in 1987-88. There are many past PaleoJudaica posts on the Ashkelon excavation and on the archaeology of Ashkelon in general. A few recent ones are here and links.